Petrol and diesel rates were hiked again on Thursday, taking fuel prices across the country to a new record high.
Petrol price was hiked by 28 paise per litre and diesel by 7 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 97.76 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 88.30 per litre.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.
In Mumbai, where petrol price crossed Rs 100 mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price reached new high of Rs 103.89 per litre on Thursday. Diesel price also increased in the city by 28 paisa per litre to reach Rs 95.79 a litre, the highest among metros.
The price of petrol and diesel in Chennai was Rs 98.88 and Rs 92.89 per litre respectively and Rs 97.63 and Rs 91.15 per litre in Kolkata.
The hike on Thurday was the 29th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal. In 29 hikes, the price of petrol has risen by Rs 7.36 per litre and diesel by Rs 7.57 a litre.
Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days, and foreign exchange rates.
International oil prices have firmed up in recent weeks in anticipation of demand recovery following the rollout of vaccination programme by various countries. Brent crude on Tuesday neared USD 75 per barrel mark, the first time since April 2019. Also, the rupee has weakened against the US dollar, making imports costlier.
(With inputs from Agencies)
